THE PUFFIN. 435* 



and the same may be said of its time of 'leaving. Its favourite 

 abode there is a mass of fallen rocks, lying at the base of 

 the cliffs, on the south-west side of the island. These rough 

 and angular blocks, which are being constantly added to by 

 masses falling from the upper ridges, form a highly curious 

 nursery, and one may imagine the singular spectacle afforded by 

 a legion of Puffins pouring out of their holes when a few tons of 

 trap happen to fall upon their territories. On the upper slopes 

 of the Craig very large numbers are also found breeding in bur- 

 rows of their own making, which resemble rabbit-holes. From 

 these strongholds it is almost impossible to dislodge them, except 

 by a dog trained for the work. On one occasion, many years ago, 

 I accompanied the keeper, who owned a dog of this kind, to a 

 Puffin warren, near the summit of the island, and I was greatly 

 diverted at seeing the little fellow, after having pushed his way 

 along the dark passages, shuffle out of a burrow with half a dozen 

 Puffins dangling from various parts of his body. Like a bull-dog, 

 an angry Puffin never thinks of quitting its hold a habit which 

 makes the shaggy coat of a Sky e- terrier extremely serviceable as a 

 bait. The single egg laid by the bird is generally placed at the 

 farthest extremity of the passage, so that it is difficult to extract 

 it. I have often taken the eggs by the help of a crooked stick, 

 and not unfrequently I have drawn out the bird itself by the same 

 instrument, when it happened to be seized hold of by the vicious 

 little occupant. When newly laid the egg is pure white, and marked 

 with faint ashy spots, but after a time it becomes very much soiled 

 by the sitting bird, and before the young one is hatched the 

 shell has become as dark as the brown earth can make it. The 

 young Puffin remains in the burrow for some weeks, during which 

 time it is plentifully supplied by both parents with sprats and 

 sand-eels. I have seen old birds knocked down in the vicinity of 

 the breeding holes while carrying each as many as eleven small 

 fishes, all held by the head, with the bodies dangling free, five 

 being ranged on one side of the bill and six on the other. It 

 seems a mystery how these birds can catch so many such slippery 

 creatures consecutively without mutilating any other part but the 

 head, or how they manage to hold fast the fish first caught without 

 risk of losing it when the bill is opened to secure the second ; yet 

 no one who knows the habits of the Puffin can fail to see the 

 necessity for such an arrangement, when he considers the distances 



